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Cathy Schmelzer couldn’t believe it when she read in the newspaper that Terry J. Dunlap Sr. — a
firearms instructor — had accidentally shot someone.

“Oh no, he’s done it again!” she said she thought to herself. Schmelzer, 50, was Cathy Hessler,
a 14-year-old Pickerington girl, when she was accidentally shot in 1977 by Dunlap during a
Halloween hayride.

At the time, Dunlap was a Pickerington police department auxiliary lieutenant. According to a
Dispatch account back then, Dunlap said he had fired his .38-caliber handgun into the air
to create, in his words, a “scary effect” while taking his daughter and her friends for a “haunted
hayride” on his rural property in Fairfield County.

Dunlap said he thought the gun was loaded with blanks. But a bullet ricocheted and hit Cathy
Hessler in her right leg. The bullet was removed at Mount Carmel East hospital.

No criminal or departmental actions were taken against Dunlap because the shooting was deemed
accidental.

So Schmelzer was incredulous to read recently that Dunlap had accidentally shot a student during
a gun-safety class on Aug. 10.

She talked about it last week from her Prairie Township home, saying that when she read the
story, “I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’”

Dunlap, 73, is a Violet Township trustee seeking re-election in November. He formerly was a
Pickerington police department captain and later, the community’s safety-service director.

The Aug. 10 shooting occurred toward the end of a 12-hour day of training in gun handling and
safety. Dunlap is certified by the state to teach classes for Ohioans who are getting their
concealed-carry permits. The shooting occurred at 6995 Coonpath Rd. in Carroll, the home of the
Central Ohio Coonhunters Association Inc., in Fairfield County.

The hunting and wildlife conservation group was founded in 1968, and is led by a board of
directors that includes Dunlap. He also is the shooting-range master, and advertises the
concealed-carry classes on the organization’s website.

Dunlap accidentally fired a .38-caliber handgun, with the bullet hitting a desk and then
ricocheting into the right arm of student Michael Piemonte, 26, of Pataskala. He was treated at
OhioHealth Grant Medical Center and released later that night.

Doctors have not yet removed the bullet or decided whether they will, Piemonte said.

Schmelzer questioned how Dunlap could be qualified to teach a gun-safety course.

“He’s supposed to be teaching classes and he doesn’t know there’s a live bullet in there?” she
asked.

Piemonte said last night that he feels “torn” about what happened.

Dunlap, he said, was a good instructor who made a mistake. He and his wife, who also took the
class, forgive Dunlap and keep him in their prayers, Piemonte said.

“Up until he shot me accidentally, it was very informative, very well laid out,” he said of the
class. “I learned a lot. Then again, I was accidentally shot.”

Schmelzer isn’t anti-gun. She earned her own concealed-carry permit about a year ago. She said
she owns a flower shop on Columbus’ West Side and wants to carry a gun at her business for
safety.

“I believe in this concealed-weapon thing,” she said, but added of Dunlap: “I think the public
should know: He is teaching classes but doesn’t know how to use it properly. He is
irresponsible."

Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen said no decision has been made on whether to file charges
in the Aug. 10 shooting. The investigation is continuing, he said.

Dunlap, approached for comment last night at the township trustees meeting, wouldn’t answer any
questions about either shooting.